Peter Tranchida on the Sensitivity Edge — CBC in Food GC

At analytica 2026 in Munich, Germany, LCGC International spoke to Peter Tranchida from the University of Messina about his talk entitled: “Cryogenic band compression as a means to simplify the sample preparation step in 1D and comprehensive 2D GC food analysis”.¹

Cryogenic modulation, a cornerstone of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC), compresses analyte bands to dramatically improve detectability. Beyond signal enhancement, this intra-column reconcentration effect offers an underappreciated advantage: it simplifies sample preparation by reducing reliance on solvent- and reagent-heavy workflows. In his talk, Tranchida presented several food analysis examples to illustrate how cryogenic focusing can streamline the analytical process from sample to result.

In this video interview, Tranchida answers the following question:

• Your work spans PAHs, pesticides, phthalates, volatiles, and chiral compounds across a range of food matrices using cryogenic band compression (CBC)—do you find that the sensitivity enhancement delivered by cryogenic band compression is consistent across these different analyte classes and sample types?

Peter Tranchida is a full professor at the University of Messina in Italy. He is also on the organizing committee for the 44th International Symposium on Capillary Chromatography (ISCC) and the 21st GC×GC Symposium, to be held May 17–22, 2026.² The ISCC conference will feature a great line-up of sessions on capillary GC, microcolumn liquid chromatography (LC), electromigration methods, and micro-fabricated analytical systems. Attendees can look forward to exploring cutting-edge topics such as lab-on-a-chip technologies, next-generation column design, hyphenated and multidimensional techniques, as well as the latest advances in sampling, sample preparation, trace analysis, and automation.

References

1. Tranchida, P. Cryogenic band compression as a means to simplify the sample preparation step in 1D and comprehensive 2D GC food analysis. Presented at analytica 2026, in Munich, Germany. https://analytica.de/en/event-program/conference/lecture/cryogenic-band-compression-as-a-means-to-simplify-the-sample-preparation-step-in-1d-and-comprehensive-2d-gc-food-analysis-16279/ (accessed 2026-04-01).
2. Matheson, A. Riva Returns Alive and Kicking, https://www.chromatographyonline.com/view/riva-returns-alive-and-kicking (accessed 2026-04-01).